Since the news of BMW/MINI's legal action against sites such as MINI Cooper Online broke this week many of us have been dealing with the unthinkable idea that this company that we have all come to know and respect has some how turned against us.

In situations like this we really get to see the power of the web at work. Since the story was posted on an MCO forum it has been read over 16,000 times and has 22 pages of replies. Further just 24 hours since the petition was created it has just under 1000 signatures. There's no doubt that the word is getting out and getting to BMW/MINI.

So the question in-front of the MINI enthusiast now is what else can be done? A group of posters over at MCO and other sites have now begun to pass around the idea of a boycott of all Motoring Gear and MINI_Motion products. As noble of an effort that may be I'm not entirely sure I personally will go down that path.

First off by boycotting MINI Motoring Gear you're mostly hurting your local MINI dealers parts counter and not MINI corporate. Sure they also make money on apparel sales but not to the extent that the dealers rely on it.

Secondly boycotting the MINI_Motion line isn't really going to drive the point home either. MINI_Motion is a very limited edition line of apparel that will be only available at a handful of retailers around the world. Most of us will never see a piece from the MINI_Motion collection in our lives let alone be able to buy one.

So what is a good Motorer left to do about this situation? Well first and foremost write or call BMW and MINI a long, intelligent letter on why they are making a mistake by going after brand building and MINI community building sites such as MCO. Secondly sign the official MCO petition that has been created for MCO. Finally lets be patient. Large corporations don't move fast and they don't react immediately favorably to bad news or sudden negative opinions. Lets give MINIUSA some time to digest all that has happened in the last several days. I've never seen a car company back down in situations like this but somehow I have faith in MINIUSA and really believe that the people at the top are, at their core, auto enthusiasts that want what we all want.

Personally, I've signed the petition, written several emails, and am I'm going to try to help the cause as much as I can with my site. If there's anything that you've done or plan to do that you consider constructive and in the spirit of the MINI community lets hear about it!